Sustainable Procurement Platform (SP Platform)

Sustainable procurement means making sure that the products and services an organisation buys achieve value for money and generate benefits not only for the organisation, but also for the environment, society and the economy.Sustainable procurement is also used by both public and private sector organisations to ensure that their purchasing reflects broader goals linked to resource efficiency, climate change, social responsibility and economic resilience, for example.The Sustainable Procurement Platform is managed by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. It provides up-to-date news, case studies, events, guidance and more on sustainable procurement from across the world. For more information about the platform visit www.sustainable-procurement.org

Procuring InnovationThere is much discussion surrounding the concepts of public procurement and innovation and how these can lead to an economically-stronger, environmentally-resilient, more competitive Europe.

• Public procurement is the process whereby public authorities - including all levels of government and public agencies - buy goods and services or commission work. These contracts make up a significant share of the EU market, accounting for about 19% of its gross domestic product (GDP).• Public procurement of innovation (PPI) occurs when public authorities act as a launch customer for innovative goods or services. These are typically not yet available on a large-scale commercial basis and may include conformance testing.• Pre-commercial procurement (PCP) is an approach within the public procurement of innovation, developed specifically for the procurement of R&D services rather than actual goods and services; if the goods or services developed during the R&D phase are to be procured, this would need to be based on a separate procurement process.

For more information about the growing topic on innovation procurement visit https://www.innovation-procurement.org/